India’s cabinet moved Wednesday to reduce the age at which a person accused of a serious crime such as, rape or murder can be tried as an adult, from 18 to 16 years old.

For the second time in less than a year, the cabinet approved the change to India’s juvenile justice law drafted by the federal Ministry for Women and Child Development in the wake of the Dec. 2012 fatal gang rape of a young woman in Delhi. One of the five found guilty of the rape and murder was aged 17 at the time of the crime and so received a lighter sentence.

The current law says juveniles can receive a maximum sentence of three years of confinement in a youth reformatory for any crime. Youthful offenders cannot be sentenced to death or life in prison.

The proposed legislation allows juvenile courts to “assess if the crime was committed as a ‘child’ or as an ‘adult,’ according to a statement from India’s government. Each case will be assessed by the Juvenile Justice Board, comprising psychologists and social experts, the statement added, ensuring that “the rights of the juvenile are duly protected if he has committed the crime as a child.”

In February, the committee disagreed with the government’s move to stiffen penalties for minors, stating its view that all children below 18 years are amenable and should be treated as children.

“Some incidents of juvenile crime, though a cause of serious concern should not be the basis for introducing drastic changes in the existing juvenile justice system,” the 32-member committee headed by Jagat Prakash Nadda, India’s federal health minister, said in its February report.

The report further stated that India’s national crime statistics suggested that the percentage of juvenile crimes -- just 1.2% of the total crimes committed between 2012 and 2013 -- was a “miniscule proportion.”

“Such small numbers can most easily be dealt with under the juvenile justice system with appropriate infrastructure and human resources,” the committee said.